It is the end of the road for tennis icon Roger Federer as King of Clay, Rafael Nadal ended his five-match losing streak against him and maintained his remarkable record of never losing beyond the French Open semi-finals.
In their 39th meeting, the Spaniard was simply too strong for the 37-year-old Swiss in a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win and hit through the 20-time Grand Slam champion in windy conditions on Philippe-Chatrier.
Few had truly expected Federer to beat Nadal – something he has never managed to do at Roland Garros – but there were moments, particularly in a tense second set, where the Swiss No. 1 made life awkward.
Federer, who had claimed he arrived in Paris with no pressure on his shoulders given his three-year absence at the clay-court Grand Slam, certainly cut a frustrated figure.
When broken in the third, and ultimately final, set the world No. 3 thumped a ball into the stands, picking up a code violation for his troubles. One member of the audience knocked his own hat off in fear that Federer would pound the ball into his face.
Though clearly antsy, Federer will surely look back on his run to the semi-finals of a tournament he’d not competed at since 2015 with some pride and, more importantly, he will feel he’s had enough matches on his racquet to properly prepare for Wimbledon.
Nadal will, as ever, take some stopping but the 11-time winner will face one of his two biggest rivals on the dirt, with the victory of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and ‘Prince of Clay’ Dominic Thiem set to join him in Sunday’s finale.
Should the world No. 2 go on to win the title for a 12th time, he will close the gap on Federer’s all-time Grand Slam record to just two majors.
The Parisian crowd clearly hope this isn’t the last they see of Federer. As he left the court, the adoring Chatrier crowd chanted his name.